Managing Automation - January 2008 - (Page 11) Quote of the MONTH the company has established itself as a provider to the process industries; built out its software portfolio; added safety, instrumentation, and simulation solutions into the mix; and established a strong presence in all regions of the globe, he told attendees. The goal, Nosbusch further explained to Managing Automation in an interview, is to lower Keith Nosbusch cyclicality through industry and geographic diversification. For many years, Rockwell’s financial well-being depended upon the U.S. automotive industry. Now, “no one industry going through a down time will hurt us,” Nosbusch said. Acquisitions have accelerated Rockwell’s initiatives in the hybrid and process manufacturing markets. The most recent purchase: Pavilion Technologies Inc., an advanced process control vendor offering predictive and simulation products for the oil and gas, chemical, and consumer industries. Other acquisitions have included Proscon Holdings Ltd., a maker of automation systems for life sciences companies, and ICS Triplex plc, a process manufacturing safety software vendor. In addition, Rockwell has remained committed to expanding its Logix programmable automation controllers and data management through its Integrated Architecture platform into a comprehensive control system. “We’ve used technology to evolve our company and change who we are,” Nosbusch said. And where Rockwell hasn’t had the technology or the core competencies — for example, in instrumentation or networking — it has partnered with Endress+Hauser and Cisco, respectively, to fill in the white space. And last month, Rockwell and Dassault Systemes announced an alliance to tie together Logix with Delmia digital manufacturing software to allow manufacturers in any industry to build virtual designs in order to maximize production efficiencies and collapse time-to-market. Collectively, these initiatives have contributed to Rockwell’s evolution. “We are not trying to move out of the automation space,” Nosbusch said. “We want to do more for the customer, obtain more critical mass, and expand into new geographies.” The effort is paying off. The company is win- ning key deals in the biofuel industry, as greenfield plants are built to produce alternative energy solutions, Nosbusch said. And Rockwell is now recognized as a legitimate player in the process space. “Now their name can be said in the same breath as the traditional process players, like Invensys, ABB, and Honeywell,” said Craig Resnick, an analyst at ARC Advisory Group. “They are in headfirst.” — S.N. Now, “no one industry going through a down time will hurt us.” — says Keith Nosbusch, chairman and CEO, Rockwell Automation For the Continued from page 8 Record OPTESSA TRIES TO LEVERAGE THE ALGORITHMS New Era Cap, a sports-licensed headwear company, opted to replace an aging inventory management control system with SAP’s Business All-in-One product. Siemens PLM Software signed deals for its Tecnomatix digital manufacturing software and its Teamcenter software with Keiper GmbH & Co. and Alenia Aeronautica, respectively. Jelly Belly Candy Co. implemented Lawson Software’s M3 7.1 Application Suite to reduce costs and improve customer service through complex supply chain planning. S emiconductor, power equipment, and electronics equipment manufacturers soon may get access to advanced shop floor scheduling and sequencing optimization software that has been proven in complex, high-volume automotive manufacturing environments. Top officials at scheduling optimization software provider Optessa Inc. say they are planning versions of their product tailored to those industries. The company will begin with a pilot test of the Optessa Multi-Line Scheduling (MLS) product in a semiconductor manufacturing plant later this year. “MLS has been used very effectively in large automotive manufacturing environments where complexity is high, where investment in production equipment is high, and where volumes are high,” says Srinivas Netrakanti, Optessa’s CEO. “We believe many of the same characteristics are present in the other manufacturing verticals that we are targeting.” Optessa’s plan to expand beyond the automotive manufacturing environment is significant because the company’s MLS tool represents a breakthrough of sorts in plant scheduling software. The MLS tool is based on what is known as combinatorial heuristics algorithms, which let systems effectively analyze problems that involve many constraints. Combinatorial heuristics, however, typically requires massive computing power. For that reason, early tools based on the technique often were unable to account for as many constraints as existed in a complex production line scheduling environment, says Netrakanti, who co-founded an earlier scheduling tool company, TigrSoft. FINANCIALS Datalogic SpA recorded revenue of €98.6 million for the third quarter, ended Sept. 30, 2007, up 7% from a year earlier. EBITDA for the quarter was €11.1 million, up 4.6% from the 2006 third quarter. M&As Balluff GmbH purchased German capacitive sensor manufacturer SIE Sensorik Industrie. MEGA International acquired Control Metrics, a developer of internal control software. SIXNET Holdings, LLC completed the acquisition of BlueTree Wireless Data, Inc., which supplies machine-to-machine cellular data products. PA R T N E R S H I P S AppLocation Systems Inc. will offer RFind Systems Inc.’s Real Time Location Systems with its MOBILEFusion Asset Tracking Logistics Platform. Edifecs and Seeburger entered a product partnership to speed up B2B implementations. Optima Central and Informance International teamed up to help Latin American customers improve their supply chain efficiency. Psion Teklogix will offer Stay-Linked software licenses in conjunction with its rugged wireless and mobile computers. 11 January 2008
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